World Trade Organization (WTO) members have adopted a new framework for trade-related development assistance, seeking to mobilise more funding from governments, development partners and private investors to help developing economies expand their participation in global trade.
The declaration, titled “Aid for Trade: partnerships for trade and development”, was adopted by the WTO Committee on Trade and Development following a two-day 10th Global Review of Aid for Trade at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva.
The agreement marks the 20th anniversary of the Aid for Trade Initiative and shifts its emphasis towards stronger partnerships and additional financing, including grants, concessional loans and blended finance to attract private sector investment.
The declaration recognises the role of technical assistance and capacity building in helping developing countries, particularly least developed countries, implement WTO rules and integrate into the global trading system.
It also reflects changes in the development finance landscape, calling for efforts to explore and scale up additional resources through trade and development cooperation.
“This is an example of how we are working to renew the WTO – brick by brick,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in welcoming the declaration.
“Members made this declaration possible. The challenge now will be to make it count – to work together to do much more for growth and development worldwide. So let us carry today’s spirit beyond this room into greater opportunities people can see – and seize,” said the Director-General.
The declaration is the first multilateral outcome on the Aid for Trade initiative in 20 years, according to Ambassador Elmer José Germán Gonzalo Schialer Salcedo of Peru, chair of the Committee on Trade and Development.
“This declaration is a result of active engagement of all members. The leadership of Australia and Barbados has been exemplary. This is the first multilateral outcome on this topic after 20 years, and it gives a renewed impetus to this initiative,” he said.
Members also considered a communication from India on trade-related capacity building, highlighting its South-South and triangular cooperation programmes. India’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme has strengthened the skills of more than 80,000 participants since 2014, according to the communication.
The WTO review focused on how trade assistance can support development and expand opportunities for developing economies. The committee chair urged members to sustain cooperation and build partnerships that broaden access to trade opportunities.
“Discussions over the past two days show what sustained support can achieve, and they also remind us how much more remains to be done,” he said.
